"When the Devil's Be Callin'" is the mesmerizing ghost story of two slaves' and the arrival of an unknown evil in White Plains, Georgia during the 1800's. Who is the mysterious supernatural visitor? Who is the young white cracker girl that has popped up out of nowhere and what does she want? How does the past affect the present? You'll be captivated by this truly original story. It's a Civil War Peyton Place with a supernatural twist.

By my own rules, one cannot hold a non professional theater to the same standard that a professional theater should be held to. But even with that said, this is a mess.

The script is a hodgepodge of every southern, black and female sterotype and cliche you can think of. This sexist, raceist wreck sheds no new light or new prospective. It is not ironic. It is not thought provoking. It is not funny. There are entire scenes lifted from Gone With the Wind, North and South, Rebecca and a few other old favorites. There are incompleat metaphores, abandon subplots, silly dialogue, and a very predictable climax. Mr. Peace would do well to spend some time editing, reworking and rethinking this show. Perhaps starting with the question "What is it I want to say?"

Overall the cast is fine. The stand out in the group, Jennifer Dersin, makes some strong character choices and is interesting to watch. The sets and costumes are appropriate. However, ther is a lighting effect at the end that is just a bad idea.

Onstage Atlanta is to be commended for staging new works, but perhaps they should provide more support (in the form of staged readings or workshop productions?) for script development.

I saw "Devils'" last week, hoping for a really twisted drama, but was somewhat disappointed with the story. Don't get me wrong, the cast is pretty good, especially Allison, but I never could decide what the play was really about. There is the voodoo stuff and sex and the slave's backstory stuff, but there was not enough to tie things together.

The set and the costumes were pretty good for a theatre this small. The language in the show was not believable- and I don't mean the 'N' word- I mean that some of the language is too modern/Historically inconsistant. There are some funny moments in the show, but I think the audience is not sure if it is appropriate to laugh, because of the 'N' word, which really IS correct for the time of the play, but hard for our generation to listen to.

Knowing that "Devils'" is a new play, I can certainly see its potential, but it needs a little tweeking to make it correct for the time period and give it a little more gusto. [POST A COMMENT REGARDING THIS REVIEW]